MOALA TAUTUAA showed why he was the most sought-after big man in the recent Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft.
The Talk ‘N Text’s top pick starred in Gilas Pilipinas’s fourth-quarter onslaught to hand Japan a 75-60 beating for its third win in four matches in the annual William R. Jones Cup invitational tournament on Wednesday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium in Taiwan.
The 6-foot-7 Tautuaa unloaded eight of his 10 points in the final quarters where the Filipinos outscored the Japanese, 29-16, to pull away from a tight contest.
Gilas improved to 3-1 (win-loss) and will face reigning International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Asia champion Iran on Thursday at 1 p.m. in a crucial encounter for both teams.
The Iranians absorbed their first loss in the eight-nation tournament, bowing to overtake USA Select club, 66-81.Iran (4-1) rested its superstar big man Hamed Haddadi against the Americans.
Terrence Romeo, the tournament’s No. 3 leading scorer with 17.3 points a game, paced the nationals anew with 16 points, while Jayson Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo added 10 apiece.
Japan, which dropped to 0-4, entered the game with fresher legs after a day’s rest on Tuesday and hang tough in the game, trailing the Filipinos by only two, 44-46, entering the final period.
But Gilas held Japan to only six points in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter and unloaded a telling 18-4 assault to break away from a tight contest, 64-48, with 2:20 remaining.
Tautuaa made a couple of two-hand slams in that pivotal run, giving the Tropang Texters fans a glimpse of what he can do for the team that picked him No. 1 overall in last month’s draft.
Gary David, Norwood and de Ocampo joined the scoring fray and hit a triple each for Gilas.
Joji Takeuchi paced Japan with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
The Filipinos started slow as they came from a bruising encounter with Russia’s club team before pulling off an 85-71 win.
Sonny Thoss and Asi Taulava were also rested by Head Coach Tab Baldwin against Japan. Thoss and Taulava will take turns in guarding the 7-foot-3 Haddadi on Thursday.